Method of securing a container to a pallet

ABSTRACT

A palletized container includes rectangularly arranged side walls and bottom closure flaps. One bottom closure flap is nailed or stapled to a wooden pallet. This is done by positioning one bottom closure flap on the pallet while the container is resting upon its side, the wall to which the one bottom closure flap being lowermost. After nailing or stapling the flap, the remaining closure flaps are folded inwardly and the container erected upon the pallet.

United States Patent 1191 Hickey 51 Jan. 9, 1973 [54] METHOD or SECURING A 3,127,084 3/196; Williams ..206/60 A x CONTAINER TO A PALLET 3,219,252 11/1965 Fleming et al. .;.....206/60 A x [75] Inventor: Gordon P. Hickey, White Bear Lake, Minn- Primary Examiner--Charlie T. Moon [73] Assignee: l-loerner Waldorf Corporation, Attorney-Robert Dunmng Ramsey County, Minn.

22 Filed: June 8, 1970 ABSTRACT [2!] Appl. No.: 44,054 A palletized container includes rectangularly arranged side walls and bottom closure flaps. One bottom closure flap is nailed or stapled to a wooden pallet. This [22] ..29/432, 29/52%,22306/60 A is done by positioning one bottom closure flap on the 2 9 pallet while the container is resting upon its side, the l 1 0 can l4 1 2 wall to which the one bottom closure flap-being lowermost. After nailing or stapling the flap, the remaining [56] References Cited 9 closure flaps are folded inwardly and the container erected upon the pallet.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 9 197a 3.708.861

INVENTOR GORDON Pfi/cmsy ATTORNEY METHOD OF SECURING A CONTAINER TO A PALLET This invention relates to an improvement in palletized containers and deals particularly with a container secured to the surface of a pallet so that it may be readily handled by a fork lift truck or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bulk shipments, particularly for use in transferring a product from one department to another, often comprise containers mounted upon wooden pallets so that they may be readily handled by a fork lift truck or the like. In order to hold the containers squarely upon the pallets, the bottom portions of the containers are often stapled or nailed to the upper deck of the pallet. In the past, this has usually meant that someone has to climb into the container so as to nail the bottom thereof to the wooden pallet. This often causes injury to the containers and is, at best, an awkward type .of operation. Furthermore, it is impossible for the person securing the container in place to see the location of the spaced boards on the pallet, and if the nails or staples are improperly positioned, injury to the bottom of the container may well result.

The containers used are often formed of corrugated paperboard or solid fiber, and the bottom of the container is normally formed by closure flaps, at least two of which extend into edge abutting relation to form the complete bottom closure. From time to time it is necessary to replace the containers. This is usually done by tearing the old containers loose from the wooden pallet and then removing the nails or staples from the pallet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to secure the container to the pallet by merely nailing or stapling one closure flap to the pallet while the container is resting upon its side. When the flap has been secured, the container is erected and filled in the usual manner. The container is not secured to the pallet as securely as might otherwise occur, but experience has shown that this method of securing of the container in place is adequate for most operations. The main purpose of securing the container to the pallet is to hold it in place during the filling, as containers of the type in question often hold as much as a ton of product, and the containers do not slip readily after they are filled. Once secured in the manner described, the containers have been used in the normal manner without any difficulty.

A feature of the present invention resides in the fact that with the present arrangement, the operator can properly position the nails or staples and can see the relationship of the bottom container closure flap and the boards forming the pallet. Thus there is little or not likelihood of damaging the closure flap by improperly locating the fastening means.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a means of securing a container to the pallet which will permit the ready detachment of the container from the pallet when the container is to be discarded. By tilting the empty container on its side, the fastening means which has been used to secure the container to the pallet are accessible and may be easily removed without tearing the container from the pallet as is usual practice.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specifications and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container and a pallet, showing the manner in which one of the bottom closure flaps is secured to the pallet.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the container being swung into erect position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the completed pallet mounted container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The container is indicated in general by the Letter A, and is designed to be mounted upon the wooden pallet B. The pallet B may vary considerably in form, but is shown as including a pair of vertically extending side boards 10 and an intermediate board 11 of similar height. These boards 10 and 11 are connected by parallel spaced surface forming boards 12, and the lower edges of the uprights l0 and 11 are connected by'three spacd connecting boards 13. The fork of a fork lift truck may enter from opposite sides of the pallet between the top and bottom boards 12 and 13, or may extend beneath the pallet from right angular relation between the bottom boards 13.

The container A is shown as including spaced parallel side walls 14 and 15, and spaced parallel end walls 16. The walls are connected in tubular relation in any suitable manner. End wall closure flaps 19 are hingedly connected to the lower edges of the end walls 16 and 17, and side wall closure flaps 20 and 21 are hingedly' connected to the lower edges of the walls 14 and 15 respectively.

In order to reinforce the container, short end wall flanges 22 are hingedly connected to the upper edges of the end walls 16 and 17, and short side wall flanges 23 are connected to the upper edges of the side walls 14 and 15. The flanges 22 and 23 may be folded down in right angular relation to the walls to which they are attached, and the overlapping corner portions of the flanges may be stapled or otherwise secured together as indicated at 24. If the containers are to be stacked one above the other, reinforcing corner posts are usually provided in the four vertical corners of the container extending from the bottom closure to the top flanges 22 and 23.

In mounting the container A upon the pallet B, the container walls are squared up, and the end wall closure flaps 19 are preferably folded inwardly in the manner indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings to hold the container in squared up position. The container is positioned with the fold line connecting the side wall closure flap 21 to the side wall 15 extending along one edge of the pallet. Fastening means 25 such as nails or staples are driven through the closure flap 21 to secure this flap on the pallet. The bottom closure flaps are folded into right angular relation to the walls to which they are hinged with the exception of the flap 21. The container A is then tilted into vertical position to rest upon the pallet. While only one of the closure flaps is actually anchored to the pallet, this is normally sufficient to secure the container in its proper position.

When the container has been erected, the flanges 22 and 23 are normally folded inwardly and the corners stapled as indicated at 24. The container may then be filled and transported while still mounted upon the pallet B. Usually the containers are used several times, and after being emptied are returned for refilling.

When the container becomes damaged or soiled to the extent necessary to prevent its reuse, the body of the container is tilted back into the position indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings, and the fastening means 25 are removed. A new container may be partially erected and secured to the pallet in the same manner as the first.

In accordance with the Patent Statues, l have described the principals of construction and operation of my pallet mounted container and method of forming the same, and while 1 have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim 1. A method of securing a container to a wooden pallet of substantially the same size, the container having rectangularly arranged side walls, and bottom closure flaps hinged to the lower edges of two opposed of said side walls, the method including the steps of folding said walls into generally rectangular relation with one of the bottom closure flaps being in face contact with an edge of the top side of the pallet and the hinge line connecting said one closure flap to its side wall extending along a pallet edge, securing with driven fasteners said one closure flap to said pallet while said container is on its side, and swinging the container into vertical position on the pallet.

2. The method of claim 1 and in which the container includes bottom closure flaps on the remaining side walls, and including the step of folding these last named closure flaps into substantially coplanar relation before swinging the container into vertical position. 

1. A method of securing a container to a wooden pallet of substantially the same size, the container having rectangularly arranged side walls, and bottom closure flaps hinged to the lower edges of two opposed of said side walls, the method including the steps of folding said walls into generally rectangular relation with one of the bottom closure flaps being in face contact with an edge of the top side of the pallet and the hinge line connecting said one closure flap to its side wall extending along a pallet edge, securing with driven fasteners said one closure flap to said pallet while said container is on its side, and swinging the container into vertical position on the pallet.
 2. The method of claim 1 and in which the container includes bottom closure flaps on the remaining side walls, and including the step of folding these last named closure flaps into substantially coplanar relation before swinging the container into vertical position. 